The Story of a Parisian at The U.S. Social Forum

by Haby Dramé, MPT Intern

The US Social Forum 2010 took place in Detroit, Michigan from June 22th to June 26^th and you know what, I was there!

Interning with Michigan Peace Team since the beginning of May, I’ve been invited to participate as a team member in the different peace teams they placed during the opening march and the protest in front of Chase bank.

I have to confess that before I came to the U.S, I didn’t know that a US Social Forum was taking place every

other year. I have heard about the World Social Forum of course but I’d never heard about a US Social Forum and I think a lot of people in Paris are just like me. It was a giant surprise to find myself here for this wonderful event and in some way to be a part of it. If you had asked me to describe my feelings about the events right after the opening march all I would have been able to say is "Wow!"

What impressed me the most during the Forum is the opening march. It was impressive, powerful and so beautiful! As peace team members, we had to walk on both sides of the road to Cobo Hall, where the opening ceremony was to take place. More than 20, 000 folks from all over the United States were in Detroit this day. All those people were united for the same goal, singing, dancing and chanting slogans (a week after the event I still find myself chanting some of them sometimes), young

folks, older folks, whites people, African-Americans, Native Americans, Asians, all ages and all races were there. Detroit people were on the sidewalk taking pictures of the march (I was happy to sit for some pictures too!) and making videos. A lot of people were looking out of their windows and greeting the march. We could see how glad they were that the forum takes place in their city.

Detroit was, from my point of view, such a good choice for the forum because it’s a beautiful city with a lot of diversity and culture; a place where people want to live in peace and justice...and this is the main goal of the Social forum! We took two hours to reach Cobo Hall and I think I smiled for two hours. I didn’t wear the right shoes for the march but when we finally arrived at Cobo Hall my head was full of beautiful pictures, I forgot all about my feet… J

United voices, distanced through the generations

By Chelsea Clark, MPT intern

The opening march to the US Social Forum was my first Peace Team. I was extremely nervous about how the day would go as it was my first time in Detroit. I was impressed by how many people were there and was overwhelmed with pride and emotions as the people around me were chanting. It was difficult to remain neutral and refrain from joining in the spirit of the march.

There was a real spirit of camaraderie and hope that surrounded everyone present. For much of the parade I was marching next to the young anarchist group and the youth voice of Detroit group. Their chants covered everything from immigration to the oil spill, but most revolved around the need for change and the power of the people. There chants filled me with a sense that together we actually do have power. I mean who in Detroit that day could ignore the thousands of shouting protestors? After the parade I went to Greek town with a friend for dinner and literally every single person in the restaurant was wearing an orange USSF bracelet. The waiter was so interested in trying to find out what was going on that he was sitting down at the tables and talking to us about why were there. It just reinforced the feeling that in mass our voices can be heard and can educate others.

Another thing that I kept hearing throughout the week is how great it is that I'm so young and so involved in the social movement and how great it is that so many young people showed up to the forum. The people that I talked to kept telling me how shocked they were that there were so many young people involved in the discussions because at their group meetings only the "grey haired" people show up. But to me I was surprised to see so many older people at the march and at the events throughout the week. To me, and maybe it's because I spend so much of my time on a college campus isolated from any one not in my age group, something like the US Social Forum sounded like an event for the young and radical. I hadn't realized that there were so many older people fighting for the same things as I was fighting for. For me, I realized how large of an intergenerational communication gap exists.

This was again illustrated to me while I was working at the Tent city. There were several tent cities for the event, but they were all divided into age groups. The one I was working at was specifically for the young 20 crowd. As we worked I sat at a picnic table and soon a group of campers came and sat next to me. We talked about our days, what we had learned and what we were involved with back at home. It was a good conversation, but we were all in about the same place in our lives doing nearly the same things, but maybe for different causes. In the meantime, Liz, was also working on the team but she sat alone keeping watch over the shower area. She didn't want to wander the campsite for fear of interrupting the campers fun.

Okay, I understand why the organizers created the tent cities around age groups. It was an effort to create a community and to keep everyone feeling comfortable. However, I believe that the conversation we had around the picnic table could have been more enriching if more than a 5 year age range was present. In groups you learn the most from those that are the most different than yourself. At an event where everybody holds the same ideals, our differences are what will lead to innovative ideas to continue our shared fight. Separating ourselves among generational lines cuts the conversation short and hinders our ability to learn from the past while utilizing the resources of the present. If we really believe in the chants that were yelled during the opening march that united we, the people, can change the world then we must make a greater effort to communicate and combine efforts throughout the age continuum.

MPT at U.S. Social Forum Chase Bank Action

MPT at U.S. Social Forum Chase Bank Action

By: Ray M. Wolfe, MPT Intern

Senior staff at Michigan Peace Team reached out in an attempt to field a large peace team for a march and demonstration at Chase Bank’s headquarters in Detroit during the social forum. They were not disappointed when more than 30 people responded and attended Friday morning the day of the event. I was fortunate enough to spend most of the week in Detroit for the U.S. Social Forum and was honored to be a part of this peace team.

My experience serving on this particular team at this action would prove to be very moving and positive. We broke the larger group into several affinity teams with four or five members each. Sheri was the experienced member in my group and did a great job ge

tting us prepared to be a strong team in the field. I was surprised at how much I found myself caring and looking out for Sheri and the others in my affinity team as the day progressed.

Our team managed to stay together brilliantly throughout the somewhat chaotic rally and march to Chase Towers. One of the hardest things for me was remaining neutral and refraining from chanting and singing with the demonstrators. It took a lot of focus to keep at the task of providing a safe and peaceful space for the people to air their grievances.

Once we arrived at the bank the people all gathered upon the steps and continued their demonstration. The organizers of the event had put together a delegation to try and enter the bank and demand a meeting with senior Chase officers. These were people who were willing to be arrested to draw attention to their struggle. The most humbling and exci

ting part of my day was when our affinity team was asked to surround the delegation in front of the bank’s doors and the legion of police officers defending them.

Sheri consulted the team to be sure we were all okay with providing a barrier between the police and the delegation. We took our places and I was moved to tears at times looking into the faces of those willing to suffer for their principles. One lady in the delegation was 93 years old and she was on the very front lines.

The picture formed in front of those doors was very powerful indeed

with peace team members standing between the police and the protesters and National Lawy

ers Guild members very near by watching diligently. The message seemed to be sent loud and clear to law enforcement and security that they would not be able to trample these people or their rights.

At the end of the day we were successful in providing a safer space for the people to exercise

their right to assemble. The bank agreed to meet with four members of the delegation and committed to a meeting within two weeks to allow the grievances of the community to be expressed and addressed. I am completely convinced that Michigan Peace Team played a critical role in this success and I was very pleased to be a part of it.

Seeing Detroit with New Eyes

by Mary Hanna/MPT Operations Manager

I left to participate in the USSF with a mixture of nostalgia and trepidation.

I grew up in Detroit. I mean "DETROIT-Detroit"...not a suburb. I'm old enough to remember the '67 race riots, with tanks rolling down the street in front of my house, and snipers on the roof of my school; the glow of burning buildings behind us as my dad sat on the front porch with a shotgun on his lap "just in case." The summer heat held the tensions of the first attempts to desegregate schools, neighborhoods beginning to become integrated, and the pervasive prejudice that kept many people locked into poor housing, inadequate schools, and underpaying jobs. Spotlights from helicopters would scan my backyard as they searched for "escaped criminals." At night, the television newscasts would first recount horrific tales of the war in Viet Nam, and then segue into Detroit's daily crime tally. My city was deemed the "murder capital of the world", even as that bloody war raged abroad. Unfortunately, until this week, I have to admit that this was gist of my memories of Detroit-The-City-I-Grew-Up-In. And I found myself wondering what influence this impression had had on my pursuing a career dedicated to nonviolent conflict resolution.

I had moved to East Lansing when I started undergrad at Michigan State University in 1979, and for the most part have lived in the Lansing area ever since. Most of my extended family still lives in the suburban Detroit area, and although I visit them fairly often, it wasn't until I spent the concerted time that this week's USSF afforded me in downtown Detroit that I suddenly remembered all the beautiful, amazing, wonderful things about the city of my childhood.

For example, I had remembered the Cass Corridor as a place to be avoided at all costs, especially at night. As a kid, I may not have been able to describe the boogie man, but certainly this is where he lived - - in the hub of all that is dangerous. But this week, I saw it as the host site for the U.S. Assembly of Jews conference, and as the home-base for the USSF's Tent City, where people from all over the United States mingled with, and lived along side of, the struggling people of the inner city.

Travelling up and down Woodward Avenue, I could see the incredible diversity of people who live and work here day in and day out, and I remembered that there had always been a diversity of people here, even as they struggled to figure out how to live along side of each other. The beautiful blue sky that was reflected off the Detroit River was the canopy for a myriad of ethnicities peopling Hart Plaza. How could I have forgotten? It was always like this! There had always been music in the background, and someone willing to dance to it (even in public!) It had always been peopled with folks from every walk of life: rich & poor, young & old, black& white & Hispanic & middle-eastern. Even as the city had struggled, it had consistently tried to celebrate whatever it could find to celebrate. It literally pulsed with the idea that sometimes it was down, but it would never be counted as out.

And perhaps the most exciting thing I saw were the scores of people - both Detroiters and those from around the nation - that were dedicated to fortifying this city as the strong, integral, complex and beautiful place that it was always meant to be; people that plan to be in it for the long-haul.

Detroit's microcosm mirrored what I believe the U.S. Social Forum to be all about: Building, creating, and renewing the world together for the benefit of all; being strategic and creative and collaborative in finding a way that all can live together peaceably and with the level of affluence that is afforded those who willingly share the good times and bad, the sickness and health of a family, a city, a nation...

I'm proud to say I'm from Detroit, and I hope that the dedication to renewal that I've witnessed there this week is infectious and will be carried to every corner of our country. Together, we really can make a new world....and I'm so very glad to be a part of it.

A day of workshops

Thursday 6/24

Today is the day for going to workshops I tell myself. Yesterday was great - nonviolence training, peace teams, and speaking on a panel, but today I want to be a participant!

First up, a conversation with Grace Lee Boggs and Emmanuel Wallerstein, two elders of the movement. Grace Lee Boggs is an amazing organizer who celebrated her 95th birthday this last week. She and her husband, Jimmie Boggs, who died in 1993, have been the center of much of the creative and work in Detroit for decades.

The room is packed with not a chair available. People sit on the floor, lie on the floor, lean against the walls …. Joy and anticipation in the air.

I love how easily they talk about love. They put their heart into their work. It seems to be what sustains them. So much I can say and write about this one workshop alone… here are some highlights (in no particular order):

* Ideas matter, We need to understand our place in history, and we need to understand between local and international struggles
* “Another world is possible, but not inevitable. The world of 2050 will be what we make it. We have the power within us to change it.”
* We need to resist the danger of becoming mindless activists acting as if only action matters. Ideas matter”
* The struggle is both long and immediate. We need to take care of the present and look toward the future. In the short run we need to minimize the pain, in the medium run we transform the world. What will win the struggle?
* “ (R )evolution is a new beginning. It is not to prove our analysis is right. ” (Grace Lee Boggs)
* “In uncertainty there is hope.” (Grace Lee Boggs)
* We don’t need to capture the state we need to change the paradigm. Those who capture the state become prisoners of the state.
* A real revolution is an advancement in the concept of what it means to be human.
* Anger is real and vital but you can’t sustain a life built on anger as its sole foundation.

After this workshop is over I head over to one on Accompaniment. Panelist from ISM, PBI, CPT and FOR will speak. After some confusion about room assignment it turns out there are only 2 of us there, so we move the workshop outside onto a grassy spot and turn it into an organizers meeting ; discussing ways our groups can support one another etc. It was wonderful and productive and good to be with others who are doing this work I love so much!

Another spontaneous, “on the fly” training, a check-in with the team at tent city and the day wraps up with a good (if late) dinner at a local Middle Eastern restaurant.

Another World is Happening

Tue. 6/22/10
It is so exciting that the USSF is being held in Detroit. I LOVE this city. I forget how much I love this city because I really don’t like driving to or around this city - causing me to come less often than I might. Yet, once here I remember that I love it. And I know (although not as much as I should) the rich movement history of this city.

A great example of the social forum theme “another world is possible”, Detroit is a strong center of resistance and resilience. As Grace Lee Boggs , an amazing organizer and movement elder says “with all that’s happened to the city we continue to re-create, re-vision, re-imagine. We come back with something new.”

The day started off at Tent City where we have planned a short nonviolence training. We arrive to find folks busy at work. A delay in permits from the city created a late start and the impressive thunder storm and downpour the night before left campers busy with set up and repairs. Flexibility is key in a peace team and taking in the situation we realize it is best to reschedule the training and head over to Cobo Hall to register. The line is long, but moves quickly as we visit with old friends, new acquaintances, and other USSF participants.

A young man walks by with a guitar singing union songs. “Solidarity Forever” he sings as he walks near-by and Kim and I join in. Yeah for the music! We need music in our movement. I see ghosts of union organizers and think of strikes and struggles past and present, I am again am struck by the rich history of Detroit. “We will build a new world from the ashes of the old,” we sing --
Yes, Yes, we will.

All registered I am sitting in a grassy corner with a friend waiting for our ride over to do an orientation for the Peace Team that we’ve been asked to place at the opening march. It is hot, and the sun is strong. Sunburned from the 3 days of peace team work just prior to start of the USSF I am covered in zinc-oxide but still wishing for a wide brim hat when a man shows up from seemingly out of no where. “You ladies look like you need some shade” he says, have a hat.“ Handing my friend and I each a straw hat he disappears as suddenly as he had appeared.

Later, Inspired by an incredible opening march I headed back to tent city several others from Michigan Peace Team. We were invited by local organizers and many of those who biked in are not aware of who we are or what are role is. We pass our handouts explaining who we are and our role (see earlier post: http://mptatussocialforum.blogspot.com/2010/06/what-is-peace-team-who-is-mpt.html) , and try to find a balance between being “apart from” (respecting the space and community created and not inserting ourselves into it) and being friendly, approachable and not seen as lurking around the edges. I find this balance to be a challenge, yet it all seems to go okay.

The storm the night before meant most of the campers were busy drying out and setting back up and not in much of a “chatty” mood. We mostly position ourselves around the corners and near the showers - places where traffic is higher or where people might be more vulnerable. Our occasional “peace walks” through the camp meet with friendly “hellos” and as when our shift ends we head “home” to sleep - happy and exhausted after a long day.

Wed. 6/23/10
What a fun (and exhausting!) day. We start off our AM with a short “check in” meeting of MPT folks. We talk about the workshops we want to attend for the day and I realize I am overwhelmed -- with over 100 pages in the program book of amazing workshops how can I choose?

Realizing I have to immerse myself in the space in order to feel out where I should be I determine I’ll hop in a workshop a little late and head into the big room where display tables are set up. After a preliminary look around I head towards a workshop and notice a group of young people sitting in a circle on the floor.

As I go by I get caught up in their conversation and I find myself talking about MPT and our nonviolence training. “What do you do in the training?” they ask and suddenly I’m inspired THIS is what I want to do! “Let me show you” I respond and we spend the next 2+ hours sitting on the floor in the hallway in a spontaneous nonviolence training! The training is awash in laughter and everyone seems to be having fun. We do some continuum exercises and use the discussion from that to set the rest of the agenda. We practice listening and CLARA, do some role-plays, share our stories of nonviolence at work. I am energized! What a great way to spend the morning!
As the morning goes on I do this again just outside Cobo Hall with similar results. Afternoon has me speaking on a Panal discussion and another Nonviolence Training at Tent City.
As the night winds down I go to pick up a friend and catch the end of a concert that Word and World has organized at one of the churches hosting us. Inspired by the music and the solidarity and hope in the room we end the day about 14 hours after we started - exhausted, happy, full of hope.

Another world IS not only possible - it is happening!

Opening March - 6/22

I want to write some about the IJAN conference MPT placed teams at 6/19-21, and the amazing people we had the chance to meet and work with. But I haven't yet found the words....

More to come soon. In the meantime, here is some news from the Opening March of the USSF:

MPT was asked to place a peace team at the opening march. A group of us responded to the call. Our job - to be a peaceful presence - projecting out intentions for peace, dignity and justice. It is hot, sunny, and I am already sunburned and sore from long hours of Peace Team work the 3 previous days. The march is long and I am not sure I want to do this. But I made a commitment.

We start down the streets with “feeder marches” joining us along the way and numbers swell.
The march is fabulous—colorful, lively, joyfully loud, and made up of an incredible diversity of people.

At the front of the march is the indigenous peoples contingent with the tribal elders leading the way. Detroit area youth follow, labor leaders and workers march near-by environmentalists carrying sunflowers. There are anarchists with black flags and red flags, Revolutionary workers selling newspapers, a group of domestic workers in magic T-shirts, faith communities, anti-war activists and Welfare Rights Unions. The groups go on and on.

Big puppets including one of Martin Luther King with recordings of his speeches play as we pass Central United Methodist Church - known in the community to be the place where King gave his famous I have a Dream speech - a practice run of sorts BEFORE he gave the speech at the well known March on Washington. Black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, Arab…every race, ethnicity, style of dress, gender expression, and age are represented.

A brass band plays, people dance. People sing, people chant, people laugh. The sun is hot and people offer to spray us with water guns and spray bottles. Clowns walk by on stilts, fairies dance by and drummers beat energy into the air.

People pass around water bottles and sunscreen. Our peace team is near the front and as we move toward Cobo a young girl near-by is lifted onto her mother’s shoulders so she can see the crowd behind us. “Look at ALL the people” she declares.

Look indeed!

As I look myself it strikes me that the march is a beautiful vision of what a real social movement could be - a sign of resilience and hope. A march through Detroit - a city on the surface full of decay and despair and yet , when you look just right -- the city that is itself a sign of resilience and hope.

I am so glad that I am here!
In Peace with Hope, Sheri